1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of air handling and vacuum systems, and more particularly to vacuum loading and material handling systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Vacuum loaders are industrial vacuum systems that use suction to collect material in large hoppers. The hoppers can be removed from the systems to process or dispose of the collected material.
In a typical vacuum loader, a fan or blower creates suction to draw air with entrained material into an inlet. The inlet typically opens over the hopper, and the entrained material is allowed to fall into the hopper. The air stream is then directed into a filter chamber, where filters remove any remaining entrained material while allowing the air to pass. Typically, filtered air exits out of the top of the filter chamber and passes through a separate housing containing a safety filter, the purpose of which is to protect the downstream fan or blower from damage. After passing through the safety filter, the filtered air is drawn through the fan or blower and exhausted to atmosphere.
Conventional piping and tubing are used to construct the typical airflow pathway in a vacuum loader. That piping can increase the overall cost of the system, and can also create difficulties in routing and arranging the piping.
General-purpose industrial vacuum systems typically have much the same configuration as vacuum loader systems, and may be adapted to handle larger or smaller matter. Most systems of this type have a filter chamber and a separate enclosure that houses a secondary filter element intended to protect the fan or blower.